India’s growth has been “very solid” over the past four years, IMF’s Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld said, hailing the fundamental economic reforms like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code carried out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Indian Government.
While summing up his impression of India’s economy in the last four years, Obstfeld said the country’s “growth performance has been very solid”.
“India under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has carried out some really fundamental reforms. These include the GST, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code…A lot of what they have done on financial inclusion has been really important,” Obstfeld said.
Obstfeld further said, “There are important vulnerabilities, so it is important for the reform momentum to be maintained even as an election comes up and for the path of fiscal adjustment to be maintained.”
“But as the government is trying to better oversee the banking system, these loans have migrated to shadow banking and that is an area where more needs to be done to contain financial pressures, which we are beginning to see in India,” he added.
Obstfeld is set to retire this month-end — will be succeeded by Gita Gopinath, the second Indian to be appointed to the position.
